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Education important?

  • 10-05-2009 9:27pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 166,026 ✭✭✭✭LegacyUser


    Education important?

    Hello everyone, i am a young 24yo female just finishing my BSc degree, looking to do a Master's this year. I met a guy at the weekend, on Friday to be specific. Gave him my number that day, we exchanged texts and then he joined my freinds and i last night at a freind's birthday.
    He came home with me(no sex) just talking, kissing etc :)
    Anyways, he's uneducated. And this might be a problem for me. 95% of my freinds are educated: accountants, doctors, programmers, IT nerds, physiotherapists, some are studying PHD's and MBA's. Education and success is quite important for me and this guy isn't educated, he is successful though.
    I mentioned this to a few freinds and they are split 50 50 on whether i should look to continue things or end things before they get any further, what will you do in my situation.
    He seems nice, i am very very attracted to him physically and i beleive there can be more.

    Note: I am not stuck up, i don't look down on people or am i a show off. I am just used to being surrounded with well educated people(i know Bill Gates isn't educated :))


«13

Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 43,045 ✭✭✭✭Nevyn


    Having a qualification from a college/uni is not the be all and end all he could be very well read, I think you maybe being a bit judgemental.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 259 ✭✭bluecell99


    Oh deary me...........whether to reject someone who has not done the university thing.Poppycock.Get to know him and see if ye have things in common for the future and forget M.A.s or any kind of B.A.Means nothing .Its the person what counts.Some of the nicest and most decent people I have met dont have a Ph.D.

    He is succesful.Hopefully he is a nice guy and you can get together and enjoy.Stop this pointless analysing over degrees.

    While I m not a fan of higher education per se and reckon its given far too much priority I accept and respect any person who has a degree I would never discriminate in a relationship situation ( or friendship) as to whether a person is educated or not.I have a very close pal who is a Ph.D and equally have friends who did not complete second level.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,428 ✭✭✭Powerhouse


    I'd never have thought of someone at 24 finishing a mere Bachelor's Degree as someone with such towering educational achievement behind them that this would be an issue, but it seems to be so you need to deal with it now. There will plenty of unemployed PhD graduates out there in the current environment for you have intellectual jousts with when you finish your primary degree, without dragging this poor sod into it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,217 ✭✭✭pookie82


    With your attitude towards the whole situation I would recommend that you don't take this any further. Not because he's less educated than you (LESS educated, not UNEDUCATED, unless I'm wrong and he never set foot inside a school in his life) but because you clearly won't be able to get past this. The fact that after only one night you need to consult your highly educated peers to figure our whether or not you want to see him again speaks volumes.

    I realise and appreciate that most people would like to be with someone - and would have more in common with someone - who is on a level playing field when it comes to in intellect and interests and that's fair enough. But it doesn't sound like you've given him any chance at all before consulting your friends about what to do next. Believe it or not, someone being a doctor or a lawyer does not mean that they will make you happy or that you'll live happily ever after.

    If you have any decency or sense of being able to get past this superficial hang up, you'll at least give him a chance. You might be pleasantly surprised. But I think that by the sounds of things, and the people you hang around with, he probably won't be entertained for too long.

    Just re-read the OP there - you have a BA, right? You and thousands upon thousands of others. Nothing about what you wrote singles you out as a highly educated person.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 176 ✭✭Queencake


    I don't see the issue here?

    I know people who are "well educated" but boring as dirt. They claim to be open minded and intelligent but often in my experience they're judgemental. You seem to be one of them.

    An education is a great aid in life but you shouldn't write someone off because they don't.

    This guy has managed to be successful despite not having an education which says a lot for the man.

    Fair play to him. I bet if he knew you were thinking this way he'd lose interest sharpish...


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  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,253 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    Well the fact is you are making a value judgement on the guy. That's cool too, but see it for what it is and be honest about it. There appears to be some feeling of "how my social circle will take it?" Now you may say this isn't the case, but put it another way, if you weren't this would not be an issue.

    Now when you say uneducated, is he not well informed or intelligent? Education and wit and intelligence are not always constant bedfellows. Indeed some of the most informed, interesting and intelligent people I have met have no formal qualifications and some of the least well informed, dull and actually quite slow have and that includes two I can think of who have doctorates. For me education brings it's own rewards and it's social kudos would be way down the list of those rewards. You say he is successful, so what is the real issue? His intelligence and compatibility or his social acceptance for you? I don't dismiss the social aspect BTW, it is important, you just have to figure out if the package that is this man trumps that.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 27,327 CMod ✭✭✭✭spurious


    Being 'educated' is no guarantee of being any sort of a decent human being.
    Getting 'educated' is much easier than getting to be a decent person who treats others well.

    For relationship-material, I know which sort of person I'd choose.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 16,115 ✭✭✭✭Nervous Wreck


    OP, it sounds like your head is stuck up your own ass. I'd recommend not going any further with this guy because he doesn't deserve to be judged by you for his life choices. Go out with one of those accountants you were talking about. I'm sure you can have some very well educated conversations about Microsoft Excel.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,380 ✭✭✭sitstill


    I'm going to say that education is important in some ways. Having little letters after your name do not make you a good person. There are plenty of decent people with no education and plenty of PhD holders who are god awful people. But its about even more than that.

    I have 3 degrees and have never dated someone who hadn't gone to university.

    I think it comes down to often mixing in different circles, having different experiences and having different interests.

    I'm not saying I would rule out someone who hadn't got much education, just that I would imagine I'd have more in common with someone who did go to college.




  • Powerhouse wrote: »
    I'd never have thought of someone at 24 finishing a mere Bachelor's Degree as someone with such towering educational achievement behind them that this would be an issue, but it seems to be so you need to deal with it now. There will plenty of unemployed PhD graduates out there in the current environment for you have intellectual jousts with when you finish your primary degree, without dragging this poor sod into it.

    +1

    A BSc at 24, so what? Not belittling it, as I'm sure you worked hard, but you didn't just find the cure for cancer. My sister has a BA from Cambridge and a Masters finished at age 21 and she doesn't consider herself superior to anyone.

    I definitely think education is important, but it's plain snobby to assume someone is uneducated or not intelligent just because they didn't go to university. A person can be very well read without formal education. I met a complete idiot last night who is doing a doctorate. There's nothing wrong with not wanting to date someone who isn't intelligent, but that's not what you're asking here.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,866 ✭✭✭Hooked


    2 of the smartest, well read, and just plain "witty" friends of mine have no leaving cert. I think you've answered your own question in your original post.
    To me it seems you'll always be bothered by his educational status and your friends 'opinions' on this.

    Do what feels right for YOU. We're not going to be the ones dating him.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 697 ✭✭✭chocgirl


    Think people are being a little harsh on the OP. What do you mean by uneducated? Presumably he does have some level of education. Education and success aren't the same thing and they don't go hand in hand. Just because you're educated doesn't mean you are going to be successful, or more importantly happy!
    Why don't you give him a chance and see what you have in common. It's likely that he is more knowledeable than you in many ways and could teach you a lot.
    I'm of similar age and I'd say education to yourself but being out in the big bad world teaches you a lot more than any university degree will.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,673 ✭✭✭Miss Fluff


    Unreg1005 wrote: »
    Anyways, he's uneducated. And this might be a problem for me. 95% of my freinds are educated: accountants, doctors, programmers, IT nerds, physiotherapists, some are studying PHD's and MBA's. Education and success is quite important for me and this guy isn't educated, he is successful though.......He seems nice, i am very very attracted to him physically and i beleive there can be more.

    Tbh it seems like you are far more concerned with what your friends think. And that's silly.

    Some of the richest people I know don't a univeristy degree, some do. A bog-standard BA doesn't really automatically mean that someone is educated. He could be enormously well read, savvy and has obviously good business acumen if he has successful as you say.

    You've only been with him once. Give him a chance, date the guy and if it transpires that his lack of education results in a plethora of social fuax pas due to his ignorance of the world about him then don't go any further with it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 181 ✭✭Sin1981


    If you like him, give it a go. To hell with your snobby friends.
    Often those people who don't go uni are more intelligent that graduates in many other ways. May not have high Academic intelligence but can have plenty of cop on, that docs/accountants don't have. That's my exp. Think he def deserves a chance!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,500 ✭✭✭RedXIV


    6 in my dads family. the eldest 5 all own their own houses and 3 have successful businesses. the youngest got a degree. she's 33 and renting a flat while unemployed.

    forget education. learn something instead.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 84 ✭✭MrEko


    Never actually replied before to a PI but this one is a special one. I worked for a few summers on sites when I was in college and one day a brickie asked me what I was studying. I answered with Anthropology and Sociology, fully expecting the usual 'What the hell is Anthro?'. Instead he started a convo on the virtues of Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, and the importance of pyschoanalysis in cultural investigation. The guy left school at 16, had a kid by 20 with his girlfriend, is a qualified blocklayer and maybe is one of the smartest guys I know. He reads Marx, Weber, Freud, all in his spare time.

    Never judge a book by its cover.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 12,382 ✭✭✭✭AARRRGH


    I think it's fine to want to be with someone who is educated or at least values education, but isn't intelligence a lot more important?

    I know some incredible dumbasses who have degrees and masters degrees.

    I think you should forget what your snobby friends are saying and start trusting your own opinion.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,628 ✭✭✭SheRa


    Well OP if this is your biggest concern dont contact him again and let him find someone who doesn't look down on him. Because like it or not thats what you are doing.

    By the way two of the cleverest men I know dont have a degree or masters. it doesn't make any difference to their intelligence though.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 422 ✭✭zxcvbnm1


    OP - what exactly is the issue?

    Is it:
    1) You feel that because he doesn't have a degree then his income potential in teh future will be limited ?(i.e. you will want someone who would be richer)
    2) IS it the status of having a degree that he lacks that bothers you?
    3) Is it that you feel that due to him not having a degree that you therefore don't have similar enough backgrounds to result in a proper relationship?

    3) may ne the answer yo would like it to be but i am assuming that option 1 or 2 is the real answer.
    By teh way - i'm actually very surprised that half your friends said with no hint of shame to dump him because he doesn't hbave a degree.
    That wasn't ver nice of them on you either. Obviously that has probably made it more difficult for you to continue this relationship for fear of what your friends will think of you.

    For teh recpord - although you said in your original post that you don't look down on people i think you are fooling yourself here.

    It may not be easy to admit to yourself but you clearly do look down on people that do not have a degree like you.

    Saying that i wouldn't be too hard on yourself. Everyone looks down on some people and look up to some people.
    WHile not admirable it is real life.

    Out of curiosity - what does this guy work at?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 34,788 ✭✭✭✭krudler


    OP, education is in no way shape or form a reflection on a persons character, although it does seem to bring out the judgemental side of people like you, I left college after 6 months as it wasnt for me, and now I'm earning more money than some of my friends who stuck it out and got degrees but couldnt get jobs in the field they studied in, does that make me better than them?course not, my parents never finished secondary school, yet opened and ran their own business for 27 years, they retired last year and now live abroad, so would them finishing college have made them any happier in life?

    as people have already said, over-educated people can be some of the dullest, unimaginative people you could ever meed, this guy is probably better off without someone as small minded as you in his life tbh


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 34,788 ✭✭✭✭krudler


    Note: I am not stuck up, i don't look down on people or am i a show off. I am just used to being surrounded with well educated people(i know Bill Gates isn't educated )

    If thats not a contradiction in terms I dont know what is, you clearly are stuck up with that kind of attitude,would you like some sugar lumps for that high horse of yours to munch on?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 196 ✭✭dreamlogic


    Unreg1005 wrote: »
    Education important?
    Depends on what you mean by 'important'.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 166,026 ✭✭✭✭LegacyUser


    being educated shows you had/have endurance, ability, can work hard, perservere at getting something done/ have a focus etc etc

    he could have proved all of the above through his being successful at whatever it is he does. Education is so broad. The most important thing is how you get on and how he makes you feel, treats you. is he good to you. is he happy at his job/work... that is much more important than being "educated"... and being an accountant is just a narrow education base.. same as being a physio... he is prob a specialist in whatever field/work he is in.

    they say if you woke up beside your other half and suddenly all titles/money/status was robbed from them, would you be happy with them as they are... as in a relationship marriage anything can happen, from becomming bankrupt, to having a disabling accident, sickness.. you have to ask yourself would you still stick with love this person then...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,500 ✭✭✭RedXIV


    being educated shows you had/have endurance, ability, can work hard, perservere at getting something done/ have a focus etc etc

    nope. educated means you know how to pass exams. I'm about to finish a 4yr Bachelor of Science in Computer Game development. It's hugely focused on programming with the idea of it's graduates of the highest programming standard. And it's a common joke in my course which turned a 60 strong class into a group of 9 that i can't program. I'm going to get a degree pretty much saying i can but the truth is i can cram like a champion and know how exams should be tackled. thats it. shows you what education means


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 19,341 ✭✭✭✭Chucky the tree


    End it now. He'll probaly dump you in a few weeks once he realises your a snob and meets your tosser-like mates anyway.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,458 ✭✭✭CathyMoran


    Can you have a decent conversation with him? Does he bore you? These are the important questions, not wether he has an "education" or not.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,119 ✭✭✭Wagon


    Unreg1005 wrote: »
    Education important?

    Hello everyone, i am a young 24yo female just finishing my BSc degree, looking to do a Master's this year.
    So?
    I met a guy at the weekend, on Friday to be specific. Gave him my number that day, we exchanged texts and then he joined my freinds and i last night at a freind's birthday.
    He came home with me(no sex) just talking, kissing etc :)
    Anyways, he's uneducated. And this might be a problem for me. 95% of my freinds are educated: accountants, doctors, programmers, IT nerds, physiotherapists, some are studying PHD's and MBA's. Education and success is quite important for me and this guy isn't educated, he is successful though.
    It's grand to have standards. But this one i have to disagree with. The bloke is probably grand on paper. Why does he need a degree to be worthy of you? It's pretty shallow. just because he doesn't have the precious piece of paper to prove it doesn't mean he's thick.
    I mentioned this to a few freinds and they are split 50 50 on whether i should look to continue things or end things before they get any further, what will you do in my situation.
    He seems nice, i am very very attracted to him physically and i beleive there can be more.
    What has this got to do with your mates? I honestly don't get why their opinion matters on this regard. you're the one who will be going out with him, not them.
    Note: I am not stuck up, i don't look down on people or am i a show off. I am just used to being surrounded with well educated people(i know Bill Gates isn't educated :))
    That is a massive contradiction.

    College degree's are bollocks for the most part. I know this from experience cos i have one myself. Anything i learned that was useful wasnt from sitting in a college but from actually doing the thing itself.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,658 ✭✭✭✭The Sweeper


    Education isn't important. If he's motivated, intelligent and committed, chances are he's more successful than some of your university mates. If he's a feckless waster, don't bother your arse.

    I wasted years of my life on unemployed musicians.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 166,026 ✭✭✭✭LegacyUser


    Education is not so important as intelligence and life-experience. But these often go hand-in-hand. Not always mind.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 166,026 ✭✭✭✭LegacyUser


    Since you've already received all the predictable responses, I'll just throw in something slightly controversial for you to think about. Some people think that this kind of relationship is the way for women to get ahead: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/feb/26/gender.comment


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,490 ✭✭✭amtc


    and why not learn how to spell while you're at it.

    Friend is spelt this way - not as you have it throughout your post.

    I have a degree and a Masters and the best relationship I ever had was with someone who could fix the plumbing (not a euphenism!) and which made him very attractive!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,324 ✭✭✭Oh The Humanity


    Education and success are important to you.......

    ha ha ha ha ha.....:rolleyes:

    The biggest tool I ever dated was a physicist....selfish, tight, etc etc the list goes on......

    Im not saying all educated people are like this but is very foolish to pick a partner based on appearances, its building castles on sand.

    I am shocked that in this day and age there are still junior Hyacinth Bouqets going around the place.

    Just make sure he has room for a pony! :p


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 18,163 ✭✭✭✭Liam Byrne


    Unreg1005 wrote: »
    95% of my freinds are educated: accountants, doctors, programmers, IT nerds, physiotherapists, some are studying PHD's and MBA's. Education and success is quite important for me and this guy isn't educated, he is successful though.

    Amazing that you only threw in a "slight" at one group. :rolleyes:

    I'd guess that shows that a person's level of education doesn't dictate how they treat people or groups.

    And since that's what matters most, I know which I'd choose.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 37,214 ✭✭✭✭Dudess


    Jeez, if you like him, you like him. The obstacle isn't his lack of third level education, it's your fear of what people will think of you/your inability to see beyond what you're used to socially.
    Believe me, third level education is put on FAR too high a pedestal - there is so much bullsh1t attached to the "importance" of it. Fair enough, some third level qualifications you have to get, but this idea that you need a degree no matter who you are... utter tosh. I've a BA/MA and I ain't successful. The most successful people I know are all tradesmen who never went to college. If I could go back I wouldn't have bothered my arse with the MA. So yeah I know, I'd still want to have the BA - but more just to have something that validates my ability, not because I consider it particularly useful or makes me somehow "better" than those who don't have a degree (believe me, the McDonalds jokes aren't that far off the mark...)
    It will become really prevalent in the recession - qualifications not being worth ****.
    Once he's not a waster/scumbag... and you say he's successful (presume that means he has drive, ambition) and you're attracted to him (presume that means he's great to talk to, seems a good person)... how that isn't enough is beyond me... And yeah, I'm the same as so many people here: I know seriously dumb, narrow-minded people with third-level qualifications, and seriously interesting, intelligent, witty people without them. Three of the most fantastic guys I know to have conversations with on any topic at all, didn't complete their second-level educations. Three women I know who are a doctor, an accountant and a teacher just talk pretty much exclusively about fake tan.
    Qualifications are fairly easy to churn out when you have lecturers setting agendas and deadlines etc - educating yourself and broadening your mind of your own accord though... not as easy.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,203 ✭✭✭partyguinness


    As you get older you will find it of no relevance.

    I have a primary, post primary and masters degree and a professional qualification.

    I always assumed that my ideal women would be just as qualified..not so.

    In fact my longest and first serious relationship was with a women who didnt even do her Leaving Cert as she got pregnant (not me)..!!..now she did subsequently go back and do other courses and is now working in a premanent state job (she is an ex now)

    My fiance is English and didnt do her A Levels but she runs her own Beauty Salon and is very successful. She did various Diplomas...

    Point being...being highly educated does NOT equate to high intelligence.

    Some of the smartest people I know never did their Leaving Cert and I know some very very dim people who have qualifications coming out their ears.

    If you like him thats all that matters.

    If you hang around with similar people all the time you will find life very very boring and it will be good for to broaden your horizons....:)


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 12,382 ✭✭✭✭AARRRGH


    This is just something I've observed, so it could just be my own particular experience, but I have noticed that people who are educated tend to be a little bit gentlier than those who are uneducated. I've noticed the more education you have, the more this is true.

    I don't know if this is because working your brain makes it more relaxed, or because the sort of people who get a lot of education happen to be that sort of person anyway...

    So I do think education is important, but really everyone should be treated on a case by case basis.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 166,026 ✭✭✭✭LegacyUser


    Jesus I think ye are being way to harsh on the OP!!! Ive been in the same situation as her with my boyfriend, I was into college, education, reading, whereas he left school at an early age. It does come up as an issue at first when you are used to being surrounded by people like the OP has.

    However, we have been happily together 3 years now, he is such an intelligent guy and we have lots intelligent conversations, so give this guy a chance OP, its definitely worth it. Education fades into the background when you've got something special.

    Hope it works out for you :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,203 ✭✭✭partyguinness


    AARRRGH wrote: »
    This is just something I've observed, so it could just be my own particular experience, but I have noticed that people who are educated tend to be a little bit gentlier than those who are uneducated. I've noticed the more education you have, the more this is true.

    I don't know if this is because working your brain makes it more relaxed, or because the sort of people who get a lot of education happen to be that sort of person anyway...

    So I do think education is important, but really everyone should be treated on a case by case basis.


    I find highly educated people head wrecking and I am including myself in that bracket....:o

    Heads are all over the place and need to take years off and lie on a beach in Thailand to "find themselves"

    Educated people tend to focus on the future and not the present and live in a dream world...they are never happy or content as they are always looking for something..no idea what though.

    Of course the above are generalisations


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,428 ✭✭✭Powerhouse


    MrEko wrote: »
    Never actually replied before to a PI but this one is a special one. I worked for a few summers on sites when I was in college and one day a brickie asked me what I was studying. I answered with Anthropology and Sociology, fully expecting the usual 'What the hell is Anthro?'. Instead he started a convo on the virtues of Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, and the importance of pyschoanalysis in cultural investigation. The guy left school at 16, had a kid by 20 with his girlfriend, is a qualified blocklayer and maybe is one of the smartest guys I know. He reads Marx, Weber, Freud, all in his spare time.

    Never judge a book by its cover.



    The only difficulty with this is that it puts a premium on 'knowing stuff' which in a sense is no different to what the OP is saying. Is there not room for judging someone on their personality and not just on their perceived knowledge whether that is acquired formally or informally.

    I do see where you are coming from in that I have a very good friend who has a bog standard Primary degree and H Dip and - reading between the lines - I think really rates himself as 'educated'. But he's an appalling conversationalist, or at least he brings no education to bear on a conversation, and is not remotely intellectually curious. I'd say he hasn't read a book since he left college and certainly did not read one while there.

    Compare this to another friend of mine who left school the year before his Leaving Cert and he is a very good conversationalist. In fairness you won't catch him comparing the views of Kant and Hobbs, discussing the fall-out from the Congress of Vienna or conjugating Swahili irregular verbs, but he's great company, and infinitely wittier and quicker than than the guy with far more formal education.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,433 ✭✭✭kittenkiller


    I think that intelligence can be a very important factor in a relationship, but I can't see how whether or not someone bothered to go and complete a Masters can effect how well two people can get on.

    Frantic check on spell check and we're off!


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 56 ✭✭gary223


    Its grand to say she's a snob for wanting an educated boyfriend but I bet the people who are calling her that have a parner who is well educated and wouldn't touch someone who's unemployed.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 37,214 ✭✭✭✭Dudess


    gary223 wrote: »
    Its grand to say she's a snob for wanting an educated boyfriend but I bet the people who are calling her that have a parner who is well educated
    Why? Having read the posts, I don't get that impression.
    and wouldn't touch someone who's unemployed.
    Depends on the circumstances: if the economy was in a good way, then yes, an unemployed person who is a lazy slacker would tend not to be highly desired. And nothing wrong with that. People are still advising the OP to go for someone who isn't a waster (just he doesn't necessarily have to be educated to third level).
    As for the economic situation now: plenty of people will be striking up relationships with people who are unemployed but not by choice.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,883 ✭✭✭shellyboo


    gary223 wrote: »
    Its grand to say she's a snob for wanting an educated boyfriend but I bet the people who are calling her that have a parner who is well educated and wouldn't touch someone who's unemployed.

    Unemployed does not equal uneducated... there's plenty of well-educated people drawing the dole. There's also plenty of uneducated people with jobs.

    Education does not guarantee you a job, and lack of education does not preclude you from getting one.

    The problem here is that the OP seems to be equating uneducated with stupid, or lazy, or maybe both, without giving the guy a fair chance. And I think anyone would call that snobby, whether they have a well-educated partner or not.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,203 ✭✭✭partyguinness


    Powerhouse wrote: »
    The only difficulty with this is that it puts a premium on 'knowing stuff' which in a sense is no different to what the OP is saying. Is there not room for judging someone on their personality and not just on their perceived knowledge whether that is acquired formally or informally.

    I do see where you are coming from in that I have a very good friend who has a bog standard Primary degree and H Dip and - reading between the lines - I think really rates himself as 'educated'. But he's an appalling conversationalist, or at least he brings no education to bear on a conversation, and is not remotely intellectually curious. I'd say he hasn't read a book since he left college and certainly did not read one while there.

    Compare this to another friend of mine who left school the year before his Leaving Cert and he is a very good conversationalist. In fairness you won't catch him comparing the views of Kant and Hobbs, discussing the fall-out from the Congress of Vienna or conjugating Swahili irregular verbs, but he's great company, and infinitely wittier and quicker than than the guy with far more formal education.


    I hear you.

    My two best friends didnt even sit there Leaving Certs and if I want a good night out or some R&R they are first people I go to.

    After 8 pints we usually end up debating "Angus Young v Slash" or "Best Guitar Riffs".

    My other friend lived in Amsterdam for 5 yrs, Moscow for 9 mnths (longer than Hitler as he puts it.:D) and London for 1 yr...he is the most interesting person I know and..man...the stories are brilliant..he left school at 16...admittedly he is a bit of a bum but I dont care...:)

    It also works the other way...he cant understand how someone so educated (they says I am the most educated they know) can be such a lunatic..they stratch their heads...:P..I should be a stereo typed straight laced nerd...not shagging hookers and doing coke...:o

    On the face of it I should be nowhere near them but life would be very boring otherwise.:)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 37,214 ✭✭✭✭Dudess


    It also works the other way...he cant understand how someone so educated (they says I am the most educated they know) can be such a lunatic..they stratch their heads...:P..I should be a stereo typed straight laced nerd...not shagging hookers and doing coke...:o

    On the face of it I should be nowhere near them but life would be very boring otherwise.:)
    Bizarre conclusion. I find it's those who are third level educated that tend to be crazier - possibly stemming from college life and the associated debauchery...


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,577 ✭✭✭StormWarrior


    I know you said you're not a snob, OP, but you're coming across as very snobby. Having been to university myself, I know only too well that a BA doesn't make you any more interesting than anyone else. Some of the most boring nights of my life were spent hanging out with my uni friends droning on about their obscure academic interests in the minutest detail. Some of my most fun nights have been spent with friends who barely passed any GCSEs. It sounds like you're just worried that he won't be up to your standards and won't impress your friends. I think the poor bloke is better off out of it. Set him free and send Stephen Hawking a dinner invitation. If I found out that my two best friends, who are both studying for PhDs right now, are wondering whether they should hang out with me because I am not studying to PhD standard, I would ditch them at once!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,203 ✭✭✭partyguinness


    Dudess wrote: »
    Bizarre conclusion. I find it's those who are third level educated that tend to be crazier - possibly stemming from college life and the associated debauchery...


    Yes I guess that I am the only one of their friends that went to 3rd level so they have a particular stereo type image in their heads.

    It also ties in with studies that show that the more educated tend to break the law more and take more chances..i.e. more likely to speed, double park, evade tax etc. I put that down to knowing the system...the more you know or the closer you are to decision makers the more likely you are to take risks.

    White collar crime is rampent but you need enforcment officers who are just as smart to be able to catch it..and that is not the case...otherwise they wldnt be enforcment officers...;)

    Example..the Revenue Commissioners have a recruitment drive every so often from private industry to try and find out loopholes that they cant see.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 842 ✭✭✭starflake


    My other half is finishing his PHD and I have a mediocre leaving cert. I consider us as two peas in a pod, he's my favourite person in the world and I'm his. I am a lot more insightful about certain things than he is.. I firmly believe that an informal education can be just as beneficial to us... If you have genuine feelings for him do not let an academic reward stand in the way. Life is a lot more complex than that and you know it OP.... This guy might be a great breath of fresh air for you..


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 12,382 ✭✭✭✭AARRRGH


    gary223 wrote: »
    Its grand to say she's a snob for wanting an educated boyfriend but I bet the people who are calling her that have a parner who is well educated and wouldn't touch someone who's unemployed.

    What's your point?

    People from similar backgrounds and with similar lifestyles tend to be attracted to each other?

    No surprise there.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 166,026 ✭✭✭✭LegacyUser


    After seven years in education on both sides of the desk, you seem to be overestimating the maturity of undergraduates.

    I have encountered some prize idiots in my time, who have the letters but precious little else upstairs.


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